Snowed In
by Barbarian Librarian
Summary: Investigating an X-File in Deadwood, South Dakota, Mulder and Scully find themselves snowed in, in the mother of all snowstorms.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: A bit of a departure from "Empty Hearts"… this one is going to be a bit more fun & romantic (I hope, anyway). A story to keep us all warm during this cold ass winter we're having (here in the Midwest anyway!). Enjoy!**

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* * *

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Snow can wait  
I forgot my mittens  
Wipe my nose  
Get my new boots on  
I get a little warm in my heart  
When I think of winter  
I put my hand in my father's glove  
I run off  
Where the drifts get deeper  
Sleeping beauty trips me with a frown  
I hear a voice  
"You must learn to stand up for yourself  
Cause I can't always be around"  
He says  
When you gonna make up your mind  
When you gonna love you as much as I do  
When you gonna make up your mind  
Cause things are gonna change so fast  
All the white horses are still in bed  
I tell you that I'll always want you near  
You say that things change my dear

- "Winter", Tori Amos

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Ah, January in Washington, DC.

It was generally a terrible time most places in the United States, but DC, and the east cost in general, had been slammed by snowstorm after snowstorm this particular winter, leaving record amounts of snowfall. The snow was fun while it lasted, in the pre-holiday bliss that had settled over Scully. Now it was January, the Christmas tree was down, and the dreary grey had settled in. By the looks of it, they weren't going to be seeing the sun again until springtime, which seemed a lifetime away when the wind chill was below zero.

Scully pulled into the parking garage of the Bureau, sighing at the thought of winter and at the fact that she was running a bit late this morning. She was always a half hour early, by habit. She blamed it on growing up in a military family, that mandated the "if you're early, you're on time; if you're on time, you're late," school of thought. This morning she had no excuse besides sleeping through her alarm, which she hadn't done since undergrad. Fortunately, her internal clock kicked in with enough time to put on the professional Dana Scully look, though she was unable to grab her normal morning coffee.

Unsurprisingly, Mulder was waiting on her when she got to the basement office. She had called him on the way over, letting him know she was going to be a little late.

He gave her a wry grin as she sheepishly entered the office, then tossed a file folder on her desk, cocking an eyebrow in the process.

"What is this?" she inquired, hoping it was something legitimate that involved something tangible. Their solve rate was down for the count these days, and they could really use something concrete to close on, to get the higher-ups off their backs for once. Preferably in Florida or southern California if possible.

"Well good morning to you too, sunshine," Mulder quipped.

"Sorry," she returned with a shy smile.

"Scully, how do you feel about cannibalism?"

Her eyebrow hit her hairline in response.

"It gets better, Scully!" he said, gleefully.

"Not sure what could possibly be better than cannibalism in January, Mulder," she retorted, taking the opportunity to pour herself coffee, resisting the urge to groan at the thought of this case. "But try me."

"How does a pattern of cannibalism in South Dakota sound?"

She stared at him incredulously. There was no way in hell Skinner signed off on them to fly to South Dakota, chasing after something that would likely turn up to be the work of some sort of wild animal.

Mulder cheerfully ignored the look on her face.

"I hope it sounds good, because we fly out this afternoon," he grinned. "You, me, and some cannibals in Deadwood, South Dakota."

"Skinner actually signed off on this absurdity?" she asked, still in disbelief.

"Of course. I met with him early this morning, while you were getting your beauty sleep."

Damnit! Of all the days to be late, she had to be late today. She could have sat in on this meeting, with the purpose of reeling Mulder in, to the side of sanity. Assistant Director Skinner was sometimes distracted by other things, and Mulder often capitalized on those times. When that happened, she and Mulder ended up on cases with "monsters" (a term used loosely, of course) like Big Blue and the Jersey Devil.

She sighed audibly at the thought of it. She supposed those cases were better than the ones that got them kidnapped or hurt or somehow illegally breaching the walls of restricted military bases. This was probably the lesser of the two evils. But it was times like these that made her really wonder what they were doing. Or what she was doing. And it was cold. Really fucking cold.

"Okay," she said, finally. "So what do we need to do from now until we fly? I don't even have the proper cold weather gear for this type of trip."

"Well we're going to be smack dab in the middle of a national forest, so we're going to need some basic camping stuff on top of the cold weather gear."

"Mulder, please tell me we are not camping in this forest in Jan-u-ary," she said slowly, biting off each syllable as if he were a child.

He smiled inwardly, taking a bit of pleasure out of her partially irate demeanor. He could tell she was trying to hide it, but he knew her all too well, for far too many years. Mulder knew she was pissed, but Angry Scully was one of his favorites sometimes. She so rarely expressed emotions, remaining his dutiful, stoic partner more often than not. Mulder had many fantasies about his partner, but his most favorite fantasy was ravaging a very angry Dana Scully. Angry Scully was passionate, and she was sexy as hell. And let's face it; it wasn't like Mulder was getting any action anyway.

The tapping of her foot distracted him, thankfully. Sometimes his mind wandering about the enigmatic Dana Scully got him into trouble. The thoughts were more frequent these days. He couldn't get her off his mind.

"Of course not, Scully," he said. "I've got us booked at the only place they've got in the area to stay, government rate of course, but we'll be doing a lot of footwork in the forest… so the camping stuff is precautionary, of course. Don't worry, I'll take care of it before we head out."

"And is this place a no-tell, motel, or is it at least legitimate?"

"Hampton Inn," he returned, expecting that question. "But it get's better Scully, there's a casino there apparently, you know, if you feel like getting lucky."

He playfully elbowed her ribs at the innuendo, as she instinctually rolled her eyes.

"Okay, so we should probably get going then, I have some stuff I need to take care of if we're heading out tonight. What time do we fly?" she asked.

Grabbing his coat and the case file, he thumbed through looking for their itinerary. " We fly out at three-thirty this evening, and we get in at a reasonable hour with the time change, but we've got a three and a half hour drive to Deadwood."

_Lovely_, she thought to herself.

Making no expression, she nodded her head in agreement. "Pick me up at two?"

"It's a date, Scully," he said with a smile, making his way to the door. "Oh and Scully, one more thing."

She looked up at him quizzically. "What?"

"I think you'll look sexy in a snowsuit."

And with that, Fox Mulder was gone.

A grin tugged at the corners of Scully's lips. She hated how he could take her misery and turn it completely around like that. She would die before she would ever admit it, but she lived for those innuendos, for the banter. Sometimes it really made her feel like she was attractive and wanted in a non-professional kind of way. And it was nice. Especially since it was Mulder. She hated to admit to herself that the possibility of being snowed in, in the middle of fucking nowhere, with Mulder, really sounded too good to be true.

And of course it was too good to be true, because Mulder never actually thought of her in that manner. Their friendships knew no bounds, except for sexual bounds and relationship bounds. And those limitations were blatantly obvious sometimes. Mulder was a flirtatious person by nature, and could easily have any woman he wanted – at the Bureau, or elsewhere. The thought of it made Scully's stomach churn. Yes, there was sexual tension between them, but Scully didn't measure up to the leggy, busty brunettes Mulder generally went for.

Banishing further thoughts of that topic from her head, it was time to head out and take care of everything.

Her first stop was to pick up cold weather gear. Scully was not pleased about the chunk of change she was about to spend on this expedition to stay warm, and she swore to herself that the Bureau was going to reimburse her – at least partially – for all of this.

Perusing the aisle for snowsuits, she found that the only one left in her size was a ridiculously expensive North Face snowsuit, in an extra-hideous royal purple. Pressed for time, she didn't have the luxury of being picky.

"Fucking perfect," she muttered, tossing it in her cart, along with a coat, boots, and other warm items.

While in the checkout line, she spied those shakable hand warmers. A cold body by nature, she took the whole box and tossed it in her cart.

After she paid for her items, she ran a few more errands before running home to pack and wait on Mulder to come get her. This was about to be a trip to remember, for sure. Chasing cannibals in the snow of South Dakota with a cheerful Mulder. She wondered why he was so goddamned cheerful.

Her immediate explanation was that he was obviously seeing someone and sexually satisfied. But she put that idea to rest when she remembered that the sexual tension between the two of them was like electrical currents with no outlet. It was a static thing between them – it never changed, it was always there, hanging over their heads like a bad habit. Mulder tossed the innuendos and she brushed them off. After awhile they fought over something insignificant, that had nothing to do with the real issue, then they made up, and the cycle continued.

She wondered if the cycle would ever changed, or if it would continue to be this unbroken continuum that haunted her every move. Of course she wanted him. And of course she loved him – in _that_ way. But they continued to do a two-step around the obvious.

Scully knew she was not especially forthcoming, emotionally. It was her biggest downfall and yet her biggest shield against getting hurt. She knew there was something there – she wasn't stupid. But did he feel the same was as her? Surely not. Mulder was more outgoing; he actively sought after the things he wanted. If something was in the crosshairs, he did not stop until it was his. Obviously the feeling wasn't mutual – on that level, anyway.

It was probably (read: definitely) an unfair assumption, but it was the easier explanation as to why their relationship was what it was. And sometimes the easier answer was the better answer, at least for the time being. Who knows what the snow might blow in, in fabulous South Dakota? Surely not cannibals.

A firm rapping at the door jolted her out of her thoughts. Shit. Was it two already? Checking her watch as she strode to the door, she smiled. 1:45. Mulder, too, was a creature of habit – habitually early, just like her. It was the one thing they could at least agree on these days. She opened the door and was greeted by Mulder's lanky frame in the doorway, donning a lazy smile.

It was time to pay the piper in Deadwood, South Dakota… and maybe catch a cannibal while they were at it.


	2. Chapter 2

Falling slowly, eyes that know me  
And I can't go back  
Moods that take me and erase me  
And I'm painted black  
You have suffered enough  
And warred with yourself  
It's time that you won

- "Falling Slowly", Glen Hansard

* * *

**Chapter 2**

In the air, somewhere over Iowa, it had occurred to Mulder that perhaps this was an ill-timed case. The pair had sat at Dulles for over an hour past their departure time before even getting on a plane to Memphis, because of ice on the runway. That leg of the journey was fine. They waited even longer in Memphis because of a winter storm blowing through the area they were headed, before finally taking off to Casper, Wyoming.

He looked over at his partner. It was late now, and Scully was sleeping quietly in her window seat, her copper locks hung in her face, her mouth slightly open, and her hair blowing at the puffs of breath exhaled from her lips.

Smiling inwardly at the sight of her, he stretched back in his seat. Mulder hoped that this case turned out to be legit, more for Scully's sake than his. Sure he took lightly at her obvious disgust of going, but deep down he sometimes worried if she were truly unhappy with what they were doing. She had a medical degree. Scully could easily be doing something better if she left, and for triple the money. It was something Mulder thought about often, especially lately.

"This is the captain, we are about thirty minutes out from Casper, it's currently nine PM mountain standard time. The current temperature is negative fifteen degrees with minimal cloud cover. There is just under thirty-six inches of snow on the ground, but roads are looking food, and we've been cleared for landing. "

At that, people began to shift in the cabin, putting up tray tables and moving their seats back. Mulder sighed at the weather report. Scully was not going to be pleased.

He nudged her gently to wake her up. "Hey Scully, we're landing soon."

She groaned, brushing the hair out of her face, and opened her eyes slowly, peering up at Mulder.

"What time is it?"

"Nine."

She scowled. "Don't we still have a four hour drive ahead of us?"

"Yeah," Mulder said reluctantly. He hated pissing her off. "Don't worry, I'll drive though so you can sleep."

Scully immediately felt bad. Sometimes she made things so impossible for Mulder.

She touched his arm gently. "Aren't you tired? You haven't slept at all… and it's only nine but that's eleven our time…"

He smiled at her. She was so precious sometimes that he just wanted to kiss her. Well, that was an all-the-time feeling for him, but that was neither here nor there. "You know me Scully, sleep's a crutch," he joked.

* * *

Once they landed in Casper and got their bags, Mulder sent Scully to sit with the bags in the heat of the airport while he ran to pick up the rental car. When he finally pulled up in the typical dark sedan they were use to renting, she began to bring the bags out, making sure she zipped her coat first.

When the automatic doors slid open, she was blasted in the face with a wind so cold she nearly lost her breath. Before she could say anything, Mulder was already out of the car, shooing her into the passenger seat so he could load the bags in the trunk. They'd packed an especially large amount of things this trip because of the weather.

Scully chucked to herself as she watched Mulder act so skittish. _Who said chivalry was dead?_ She mused.

Mulder hopped in the car and closed the door quickly, visibly freezing. He turned the heat on high and looked over at her. "It's really fucking cold out."

She sighed in agreement. "Why couldn't this case wait to surface until July?"

Mulder said nothing in response. He tapped in the address of their hotel in the GPS and headed off to find some state route that promised to eventually connect them to I-90. Forty minutes of silence elapsed before he finally responded.

"I'm sorry, Scully," he said quietly.

She felt a pang of guilt in her stomach. She knew she'd been kind of a bitch lately, this kind of feeling crept up every winter, and this case didn't help. But this was the nature of their work, this is what she signed up for, this is what she wanted. And despite the fact that she wanted to be under her covers in her bed in DC right now, she wanted to be here with Mulder more, for a myriad of reasons.

"No, no," she began, placing her hand over his right hand, resting on his thigh. "Don't be sorry. This is what we do Mulder, and there is no other place I'd rather be. I'm sorry that I've been in a funk lately – I know you notice. But I want to be here, so you have nothing to be sorry for."

Mulder pondered this "funk" she spoke of, while enjoying the warmth of her hand touching his.

"Scully," he started, not really knowing what to say. "You're right, I have noticed. I just wish you'd be able to talk to me about it, we're best friends, you know you can tell me anything. I just never know what to do to make things better for you, and sometimes it makes me think you're unhappy here, with me, with working on the X-Files."

As his words sunk in, she began to feel increasingly guiltier. How could he ever thing she was unhappy with him or their work?

Turning in her seat to face him, she squeezed his hand. "No. Never Mulder. I am not unhappy, I love y… I love this. I love what we do. There is no other place I want to be – honestly." She made a quick recovery, nearly saying she loved him. Her heart slammed in her chest. How could she almost blurt that out, haphazardly, as if she said it all the time to him? She spent years hiding this from Mulder, and from herself… what the hell?

Her slip-up did not go unnoticed by Mulder. Attempting to remain expressionless, he wondered internally what the fuck that was all about. Obviously this was something he'd never coax out of her, so he would drop it for now. That sounded like something that a bottle of vodka might lure out of her and nothing less.

"Scully, if you're in a funk, talk to me about it. I always want to know what's going on in that pretty little head of yours. I just… never know, you know? You make it really hard for me and I want to help you more than anything, I want to be there, to be that person to you."

Her heart melted at his words. She knew she was a stone wall when it came to these sorts of things. But Mulder was doing an excellent job of scaling the wall tonight.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "That means more than you will ever know, Mulder."

"So is that a hint to me that this is a topic closed for discussion?"

"No," she said, pursing her lips in thought. "It's not closed, I guess I just don't know what to say. I don't know the source of this funk, or maybe I do and I just can't find it in me to tell you."

Mulder frowned, wishing she would just fucking open up for once. But he respected her boundaries. This was the farthest he's gotten with her in a long time.

"Well, you know where to find me when you're ready to, okay?"

And with that, silence ensued. Scully, feeling too tired to sleep, her neck was screaming from sleeping on the plane, rested her forehead on the cool glass of the window and stared listlessly outside.

Conversations like these were exactly why she didn't share anything with Mulder in the first place. The line between her feelings for him and everything else in the world is beginning to blur. Here she was, putting on this armor, trying to protect herself from getting hurt, trying to prevent things from changing, and suddenly the only emotion she was comfortable with expressing was anger. And now Mulder thought she was unhappy with him? God, could he be any further from the truth? She wondered when the loneliness would ever become too big of a cross to bear for her. She sighed, softly, lost in her thoughts.

Nearly another hour passed in total silence, and finally Scully began to feel uncomfortable, like her skin was crawling, and she needed to do something quasi-normal in order to make it stop.

Annoyed with herself and this situation, she switched on the radio. Clearly because they were somewhere in bum fucking Egypt, there was either going to be country or static, which further pissed her off as she scanned through the stations. She paused momentarily at the sound of music that she was familiar with, only to find out it was Patsy Cline, crooning about being crazy for feeling so lonely.

_Me and you both,_ Scully thought bitterly.

She flicked off the radio in a huff, sinking back into her seat.

Mulder turned to look at her, wondering that the fuck was going through her mind.

"Scully-"

"Mulder, I'm lonely," she blurted out, interrupting him.

He was taken a bit aback. He had no idea that was what was causing her such trouble these past few months.

"I'm sorry," she stammered. "I don't know why I just said that."

"Scully, it's okay, I want you to open up to me. You can tell me anything in the whole world and it's not going to matter to me. I just hate seeing you upset."

"I know, I just…" she looked down at her hands folded in her lap. She was kind of humiliated.

He glanced over at her, watching her wage an internal battle with her emotions, wishing he could just read her damn mind sometimes.

"If it makes you feel any better, Scully, I'm lonely too."

"I don't see how," she said incredulously. "You could have any woman you wanted, they all see you Mulder, don't tell me you don't see it."

It figures Scully would point that out. "I do see them Scully, but that's not what I mean. I'm not looking for that. I don't want just any woman. There's a lot more to it than that."

He was being cryptic and it ate at her a bit.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that, yes, sex is great, and I miss that part of it, but what I mean is, what's the point of all that without love, someone to crawl into bed with at the end of a shitty day, and yes, someone to make love to as well. I want it all, just not that one part of it."

Scully involuntarily shivered at his words. That's exactly what she wanted, the difference was that she wanted it in him, and she wasn't sure if it worked vice versa.

"So why don't you date? Go find someone?" she asked.

Mulder chucked softly. "Because I've found someone, and she's kind of perfect. Only I'm pretty sure she doesn't feel the same way."

Her eyes stung with tears and she looked away. She should have known better than wandering down this path. How could she have been so stupid to even initiate this conversation? Yes sometimes she and Mulder were cut from the same cloth, but obviously he was in love with someone else and she had no fucking idea all along.

He heard her sniff, and he wondered if he'd said too much. Obviously she wasn't ready to have this conversation about their feelings yet. He probably shouldn't have brought it up.

"Scully, I-"

"No Mulder," she said icily. "Just drop it."

"But-"

"Drop. It."

Mulder tightened his grip on the steering wheel and kept his eyes on the road, frowning grimly. This was not how this conversation was supposed to go, at all. Scully deserved perfection. She's been through hell and back, all because of him. She deserved so much more than vague, late-night insinuations in a rental car somewhere in South Dakota.

Scully took so long to warm up, and now she's completely shut down. He wanted to punch the steering wheel. He wanted to pull over and kiss her, shake her senseless, fuck her in the back seat. Something, anything. She needed to know. Was it too late?


	3. Chapter 3

Don't… don't you wish we tried?  
Do you feel what I feel inside?  
You know our love is stronger than pride  
Don't… no don't  
Let your anger grow  
Just tell me what you need me to know  
Please talk to me don't close the door  
Cause I wanna hear you.. wanna be near you

- "Don't", Casey James

* * *

**Chapter 3**

_Knock knock knock!_

It was 10am, and Mulder was fetching Scully from her room, as they were due to meet down at the Sheriff's office to get briefed on the case, and eventually meet up with a few of the Rangers at Black Hills National Forest, where the bodies were found. It was in a region called Spearfish Canyon. Since Scully was probably going to be needed down at the morgue, that meeting would have to probably be pushed to tomorrow. Daylight seemed to be a limited resource in this area.

Last night was tense, to say the least. The remainder of the ride was in uncomfortable silence; the tension was so thick you could slice it with a knife. Mulder was angry, partially at Scully, but mostly at himself. Or maybe he was angry at the situation, but that always seemed like such a lame thing to say.

Either way, she wordlessly closed the door to her room, leaving Mulder out in the cold without so much as a "goodnight". They had adjoining rooms, as usual, and she didn't bother to unlock her end like she normally did. He wasn't sure if she'd ever been so mad she left the door locked on her side.

He'd tossed and turned despite being utterly exhausted from the flight and drive, and from the time change. This thing with Scully had him fucked up in the head. He didn't understand why she was upset with him. She was the one who blurted out she was lonely. He could tell she was clearly uncomfortable with the admission, so Mulder gave her an olive branch in the conversation, admitting he was too. All he did was hint at the fact that he may have had feelings for someone, and that someone being her.

Hell, maybe she didn't make the connection. Maybe she actually believed Mulder had feelings for someone else, and this cold reaction was actually a jealous Scully. Clearly that's a figment of his imagination, but a jealous Scully would be even hotter than an angry Scully – and he didn't even believe that were possible.

The snick of the lock on Scully's side of the door interrupted Mulder before he could mull it over further. The door swung open and out walked the petite redhead, clad in her suit and a… purple? Yes... a bright purple parka.

Under normal circumstances, Mulder would have stifled a laugh, but the look she gave him made the wind chill outside feel like Florida in the summer.

Getting in the car, they headed out to the Sheriff's station.

"We need to touch base with the local officials here, then I figured you would want to head over to the morgue and have a look at some of the remains yourself."

She nodded her head, and glanced listlessly out the window.

It was cruel what she was doing to Mulder, but she needed to allow herself to be hurt and angry, at least for a little bit. It wasn't his fault; it wasn't like he betrayed her because it wasn't even like that with them. It wasn't like that with them because she never got around to saying anything. So why did she feel so betrayed?

Mulder pulled into the lot at the Sheriff's Department and they made their way into the very small building. He surveyed the open room, before settling on a young rookie deputy by the door.

"Good morning, deputy," he greeted. "Agents Mulder and Scully in from the FBI, we're looking for Deputy Soto?"

The rookie's eyes widened in disbelief, like he'd just met the President. Mulder didn't assume they got too many feds out this way, so obviously the myth of the g-man and g-woman was left to cable television to fill in the blanks.

"Oh, oh, right that way, the back conference room, Deputy Soto is expecting you, just head on in sir," the rookie stammered, pointing in the direction of the room.

The agents made their way into the conference room where they spied a very large, balding man with a mustache that reminded Mulder of a walrus. He had a pot-belly that protruded and lapped over his belt, his uniform seemed very snug. He was eyeing a huge map of what looked like the forest, with several overlays over top of it.

Hearing the sound of guests in the room, he turned and greeted them.

"Agent Mulder and Agent Scully?"

"In the flesh," Mulder said.

"Hey good to meet ya," he said, extending his hand to them. "Deputy Soto. And you have no idea how glad we are to have a fresh pair of eyes on this cannibal case."

"Well, we got a late start this morning because of travel delays," Scully said, finally speaking up for the first time today. "So if you don't mind, I'd like to get over to the morgue and examine the remains."

She was hoping to excuse herself from Mulder for today, she just needed some space and then she would be okay. She hoped, anyway. They couldn't continue to work like this.

"Well we've actually got an anthropologist here who might be able to help you out, Agent Scully, she's been over at the morgue trying to identify the tooth marks on the bones," Deputy Soto said.

"What's an anthropologist doing out here this time of year?" Scully asked, interested. Archaeological digs were not uncommon in this area but unheard of during this time of year since everything was covered in snow.

"Well Spearfish Creek is pretty famous around here for their extremely old Precambrian that are exposed in the creek bed. It draws a lot of geologists and archaeologists year-round."

"Wow that's fascinating," Mulder deadpanned, in a tone dripping with sarcasm, that only Scully would pick up on.

Scully stifled a snicker, despite herself. As much as she wanted to wring his neck, she lived for their banter and Mulder's dry-as-a-bone sense of humor.

She excused herself eventually, and made her way to the morgue. Mulder was going to stick with Deputy Soto and go over case notes and talk to some local hikers.

* * *

Just after 5pm, Scully entered her hotel room, frustrated from an inconclusive day at the morgue. The anthropologist, Dr. Martin, was helpful, albeit in the way. She was pretty knowledgeable on odontology, which was a field Scully wasn't as well versed in. Rarely in her work did she have to worry about teeth – human or otherwise.

The cut marks in the bones were indicative of cannibalism, but the tooth marks on the bones were inconclusive. After staring at the bones for days, Dr. Martin was unable to say for sure if they were human or something else.

Scully sighed, shrugging off her coat and sinking into her bed. She was exhausted mentally from the day. She preferred to work alone, an attitude shared by most forensic pathologists. In her line of work, she believed too many cooks spoiled the soup. More importantly, she found her work soothing, she had a routine, she moved about efficiently in the morgue, and she needed her battle rhythm to relax after last night's conversation.

Interrupting her thoughts, she heard a knock at their adjoining door. Mulder.

She unlatched the lock and swung the door open to find a sheepish looking Mulder on the other side.

"Sorry, I would have knocked at the front door, but it's fucking freezing out there."

She waved him into her room and sat down at the table by the window, gesturing at Mulder to take the other chair.

Seating himself, he tossed some files on the table, and leaned back in the chair.

"So what did you come up with today?" he asked. "Please tell me it's more than what I have."

"Well I've got a bunch of inconclusive shit from an anthropologist who is allegedly some expert on teeth."

"Creepy," he commented.

"Yeah. The remains I examined had cut marks on some of the bones. Cut marks can indicate a wide variety of things – rituals, some sort of burial rite, cannibalism, et cetera. There was no real pattern or consistency from what I could see, which would lead me to assume either an animal did it or it could be evidence of cannibalism."

"Well, that's something," he said.

"Not exactly," she continued. "Dr. Martin can't tell if they are human tooth marks in the bone for sure, but she does know they are not from any species of animal that they have observed and know to be found in the area. So it really left me at square one."

"Right, so if it's not animal, and it's possibly not human, then…" Mulder trailed off.

"Exactly. No fucking idea."

"Well it seems as though you had better luck than me," he stated glumly. "I had a riveting day with Deputy Soto and the local townsfolk, but got nowhere. I guess we should probably head out to Spearfish Canyon tomorrow."

Scully sighed at the thought of it. "Do we bring Deputy Soto?"

Mulder made a face. "Let's leave Bill Nye the Science Guy back at the station. If I have to hear about igneous rocks for another second, I may take hostages."

"Okay, well lets head out early, say, seven-ish?" Scully suggested. "I want to get out there and get back before it gets dark."

"Ooooh are you scared of the dark, Scully?"

She looked at him pointedly. "No, but I would imagine you, too, would be pass on cannibals, animals, and things that go bump in the night, Mulder."

He smiled; glad Scully was warming up at least to joke around.

"So dinner?" he offered. "I'm starved."

"Can we order in?" Scully said. "I really want to lay in a tub of scaling hot water for the rest of the night. I may never feel warm again."

"How about this," he said, getting up, rifling through the drawers of her bedside table, before finding some takeout menus. "You find something you want to eat, and I will venture out into the tundra and get it. I need to find a Wal-Mart or something around this town anyway, I forgot my damn toothbrush."

She raised her eyebrow at him, then paged through the menus until she settled on some heavy Italian dish in cream sauce that was probably two days of caloric intake.

Mulder left then, leaving Scully to her bath.

She spent nearly forty-five minutes in the tub trying to warm up and relax. She left her mind wander for a while before thinking about Mulder again. She missed him, she'd been cold since their conversation in the car and that wasn't how she wanted to leave things. They really needed to talk.

She dried herself off and threw on her pajamas and some thick socks, and stretched out in front of the TV, opting for some Wolf Blitzer while waiting on Mulder. After awhile, she finally looked at the alarm clock on the table, when her stomach growled in protest. He's been gone nearly two hours!

Picking up her cell phone, she dialed his number, and he answered after two rings.

"Mulder, where the hell are you? You've been gone for two hours!"

"Sorry Scully, it's panic and chaos here at the Deadwood Wal-Mart. Word on the street is, a storm is a-comin' tonight."

"What, are you kidding me?" This place just got better and better.

"Nope. Lines are six miles long in here. Bread and milk's going fast. They have closed one exit in here. I'm looking around the store to see who I'll eat first when I get snowed in here at the store. Save yourself, Scully."

She chucked mirthlessly on her end. "Just get back here, I'm fucking hungry."


	4. Chapter 4

I can't see the stars anymore living here  
Lets go to the hills where the outlines are clear

Bring on the wonder  
Bring on the song  
I pushed you down deep in my soul for too long

- "Bring on the Wonder", Susan Enan

* * *

**Chapter 4**

She felt like they had been walking for miles. Her boots hit the snow, each step making an audible crunch, and after awhile, the cadence of her pace was irritating to her. There was about three feet of snow in most places on their walk, but there was a walkable path, so she wasn't wading through the snow at her looming five feet, two inches.

She began her pace count somewhere after the ranger station, out of a habit. Growing up in a military family, they never did normal family activities. One afternoon, as a child, she remembers her father taking she and her brothers out and teaching them basic land navigation – how to keep pace count, use a compass, et cetera. However, she'd lost her pace count several thousand meters back, and her ability to convert meters to miles in her head was somehow frozen in time, and her body was going to follow suit at some point.

They started out early as originally discussed, because the alleged snowstorm of the century that was supposed to show its ugly face never did. They started out from the ranger station, on foot, because the remains we inaccessible by vehicle, even in the best of weather.

Scully checked her watch. Nine-thirty. They'd been walking about two hours. So she accounted for maybe three miles in, more or less, if they kept maybe a forty-five minute pace. She couldn't be sure, it was too fucking cold, and the snow was now starting to fall, and she felt in her gut that this was about to be an epic mistake, being out here right now.

The entire walk ensued in silence. So much silence this trip. It angered Scully, and the longer they walked, the angrier she got at the thought of it. Her hair was beginning to be damp from the light snowfall, snowflakes getting caught in her eyelashes, and that, too pissed her off. She stopped, shrugging off her daypack that she thankfully brought, and kneeled in the snow, fishing out her toboggan.

Mulder, hearing Scully stop walking, turned around to investigate. There she was, a vision in… royal purple. Obviously Scully had gotten the short end of the stick in the winter weather gear, because she was clad in head-to-toe royal fucking purple, and looked none too pleased. That amused Mulder more than anything. He thought she looked beautiful regardless, but the fact that Scully has been sulking in silence, like the fucking Purple People Eater, made Mulder want to dissolve in laughter.

"Are you cold, Scully?" he asked with a smirk, trying to hide his amusement.

Her eyes shot daggers at him. "No, I'm not, Mul-DER," she said, like a petulant child, biting the end off his name. "I'm just getting out my toboggan, because, if you haven't noticed, it's fucking snowing."

He hid a grin. "No, I guess I didn't notice."

She glared at him in response, then focused on her bag. She secured her hat and shoved the rest of the contents back in, zipping it with such force that the zipper got snagged in the fabric. She swore at the bag, unable to zip it.

That was all it took for Mulder. He tried to stifle the snicker but it made its way out, despite him, and eventually he dissolved into laugher.

Scully froze, furious. What the fuck was so funny?

"Hey Scully, you kind of look like Grimace, from-"

"ALL RIGHT, THAT'S IT!" she bellowed, dropping her bag and the forgotten toboggan in the snow and stomped towards him, until there were only a few inches between the two of them. Her eyes were blazing; a fiery cerulean reserved for only a select few in life.

The laughter died in Mulder's mouth, who was too shocked to laugh again.

"I don't know what the FUCK you think is so god DAMN funny, but you have been pissing me off this entire trip, and I am SICK of it!" she screeched, now completely out of control, jabbing him in the chest with her pointer finger for emphasis.

Mulder looked at her incredulously. "Oh, YOU are pissed off at ME? Well that's a fucking shocker, you've made that blatantly obvious since the car ride to Deadwood!"

"And you don't think I should be?" her tone escalating. It echoed in the woods and she was suddenly glad that ranger dipped out of going with them.

"No! I don't even get why you're mad in the first damn place! I tried to share with you something personal, you know, quid pro fucking quo, Scully, and in return I get the fucking silent treatment for twenty-four hours? Wow thanks."

"UN-believable, Mulder!" she said, shoving him firmly, open-palm, in the chest, packing a bit of punch behind her, because Mulder struggled with his balance for just a moment, before regaining his footing.

What the fuck? Angry Scully was out in full force. He'd never seen her like this, so out of control, and he still had no idea what the fuck happened in the first place. All he knew was, the snow was beginning to pick up, and Angry Scully was sexy as hell.

He decided to try this without shouting. "I don't know because you won't tell me! You might have noticed that you're not a fountain of information when it comes to how you feel."

"I may not be, but it doesn't take a fucking genius to know that maybe you shouldn't cryptically insinuate to your best friend that you're in love with some woman that I don't even know about!"

She placed her hands on her hips, trying to regain control of the situation, but her head was spinning right now.

Mulder's breath caught in his throat. Wait a minute. Wait one fucking second here. Scully DID think he was in love with another woman! So this person he'd been dealing with, masquerading as his partner was Jealous Scully. And because he was a dirty, lovesick, perverted bastard of a man, he felt himself grow hard, in the middle of a snowstorm in the woods, with subzero wind chills.

"Oh my god…" he said in realization.

Adrenaline rushed through Mulder's veins, and without thinking, he grabbed her face and kissed her, hard.

Scully immediately reacted by shoving him away, and slapping him square across the face, disgusted that he would kiss her after saying he loved someone else. How fucking dare he play with her emotions like that?

Mulder clutched his face, which stung from a combination of the ball of fury that was his partner and the blistering cold. He probably deserved the slap, maybe just a little, but still.

"Jesus, Scully!"

"How dare you, Mulder!" tears springing in her eyes, turning away.

Clearly she had no fucking idea what was going on, and Mulder had to right this, very quickly before things complicated further.

"Scully," he said quietly. "It was you."

"What was me?" she said, avoiding his eyes, her voice cracking, but not even bothering to care anymore.

He firmly, but gently grabbed her shoulders, and looked directly down at her. "You Scully, it was YOU in the car I hinted about… I said I found someone and she was kinda perfect… YOU. You're kinda perfect… I love YOU… God Scully, I love you so much… you're killing me here."

Scully was taken aback. So she'd had it all wrong this entire time… she raked him over the coals, and then he kissed her, something she'd only dreamt about for YEARS, and she reacts by slapping him in the face?

There were a million and one scenarios she played out in her head, over and over again, every day, about how she wanted this moment to happen. It would be perfect, her words kind and thoughtful, and the kiss soft and tentative, exploratory. No, they couldn't possibly be further from that.

She began to cry, because she had no other reaction left in her bag of emotions.

"Mulder… I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to… I didn't know…" she stammered, tears streaming down in her face, mixing with snow and making it hard for her to see.

"Shhh," he said wrapping his arms around her, drawing her to him tightly. "It's okay, you couldn't have known."

Her cheek rested on the wet material of his parka for several moments, before she drew back, looking up at him, needing him to know what it was she's been hiding too.

"I love you too, Mulder… I… I love you too."

He sucked in his breath and closed his eyes. Was this a dream?

Leaning towards her, he decided to go for round two, slanting his mouth over hers. She responded immediately, this time with hunger, returning the kiss eagerly. She laced her gloved hands behind his head, needing to be so close to him right now. The warmth of his mouth, the taste of him, was all so overwhelming.

After several moments, Mulder finally broke the kiss, because the snowfall was noticeably heavier. He could barely see a few feet in front of them

Noticing the same thing Mulder did, she gasped. "Oh shit Mulder, we gotta get outta here!"

"I know, I know,"

"Mulder, we're a several hour walk from the ranger station!" she exclaimed, beginning to feel panicked.

"I know we are, we need to find something here to wait out the storm, there's no way we'll make it back in this weather," he said, now rifling through his pack, looking for his map.

"What are we going to do?"

Mulder opened up the map, trying to quickly orient himself to it. He quickly found where they began, and then estimated in his head how far they'd walked, measuring it out. He looked up, searing for any terrain features that might help him figure out where exactly they were.

As it turned out, they headed due west the entire walk, and he was able to identify a ridgeline on the map that was next to them.

He smoothed his hand over the map to clear off the freshly fallen snow. The map was starting to get wet so he needed to think fast.

"This map is the map they use for the archaeological digs, the ranger said when he gave it to me, so it identifies all the cabins that are in the area used to house them. He said they're everywhere."

Scully sighed with relief. That was good news, at least. The snow was really picking up and they needed to get moving.

Mulder identified the closest cabin to them on the map, and fortunately for them it was only roughly 900 meters away, moving southeast.

"Okay, the good news is, there's one that's going to be a little bit of a walk, but not too far. Definitely much closer than the ranger station."

Scully tensed. "What's the bad news?"

"Well I don't have a protractor to get our exact direction we need to move, so I'm going to have to dead reckon as best as possible. I think we'll be okay because the vegetation isn't thick, but the snow might fuck us up so we need to move efficiently but not too quickly, 'cos if we get off course, then I'll have no idea which way we drifted."

"Okay, well let's go then," she said, picking up her forgotten pack, and shaking off her toboggan that was now completely covered with snow.

Mulder put the map away and shrugged his pack on as well, before looking back at Scully.

"Are you okay? Are you cold? Do you need anything?"

A smile tugged at her lips. He was so perfect. She grabbed his hand in reassurance.

"No, I'm okay, let's just find this cabin, okay?"

He smiled back at her, kissing her nose gently. "Okay. We'll talk more when we get some shelter, okay?"

She squeezed his hand in agreement, and they set off.

About thirty minutes later, Mulder began to get worried. It shouldn't have taken them more than fifteen minutes to walk just under a kilometer. He began looking around for a cabin that should have been on a small incline to their right. The snow was falling increasingly harder and he couldn't see that far out, and he thought he saw something – but he didn't want to move too far.

Sensing Mulder's distress, Scully spoke up. "What's wrong, Mulder?"

"It shouldn't have taken us this long to walk this."

She smiled, bumping his hip with hers. "Keep your pace count, silly. We're only at seven hundred meters. We're moving really slow because I'm fucking wading in this snow… never keep you pace on time… always count."

Mulder looked at her, bewildered. Scully never ceased to amaze him.

Scully shrugged in response. "I'm a military brat, I'm full of useless knowledge. We're almost there, two-hundred more meters ahead."

He smiled, putting his arm around her and squeezing her. "Love you," he said softly.

She felt the warmth rush through her, despite the snowfall. "I love you back," she said, smiling.

They walked for several more moments in anxious silence, hoping to spot something soon, otherwise they knew they were completely fucking lost and stranded thanks to natural lines of drift in the terrain.

Scully began to shiver. Her snowsuit was very warm, but all the walking had caused her to sweat, and now it was drying and she her body was beginning to get cold. She really needed to eat something but wanted to get there.

And finally, like a mirage in the desert, there it was… the cabin.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: Thanks for the reviews, glad you guys have enjoyed the story so far. Been snowed in a bit myself with this crazy snow/ice storm that just hit, but expect more updates soon. :)**

* * *

Today is gonna be the day  
That they're gonna throw it back to you  
By now you should've somehow  
Realized what you gotta do  
I don't believe that anybody  
Feels the way I do about you now

Backbeat the word was on the street  
That the fire in your heart is out  
I'm sure you've heard it all before  
But you never really had a doubt  
I don't believe that anybody feels  
The way I do about you now

And all the roads we have to walk along are winding  
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding  
There are many things that I would  
Like to say to you  
I don't know how

Because maybe  
You're gonna be the one who saves me  
And after all  
You're my wonderwall

- "Wonderwall", Ryan Adams (Obvs I know Oasis sings this song originally, but Ryan Adams' cover of "Wonderwall" is what inspired this chapter for me… find it, it will change your life).

* * *

**Chapter 5**

They quickly made their way to the cabin, and onto the covered porch, stomping the snow off their boots as they peered into the windows to see if they could see any occupants. Of course, it was January and no one in his or her right mind would be there.

Mulder tried the door and unsurprisingly, it was locked. He glanced back at Scully, who was now visibly shivering, her lips tinged blue from the cold. He needed to get them inside, though he was not entirely positive that it would be much warmer inside. On their walk over, he did spy a chimney on the roof, and he silent prayed that there was wood in there of some sort. The last thing he wanted to do right now was go searching for wood in this snowstorm.

He tried the windows; hoping one would be unlocked, before he had to take more destructive measures to break in.

Jackpot! One slid right open. He peeked his head and surveyed the place, deciding it was safe to go in.

"Hey Scully, you wanna slide in there and unlock the door? I don't think I can fit through the window." He wanted to get her inside as soon as possible.

She glanced at him sideways, with a wry smile, despite the cold.

"Always saving your ass," she said, gliding through the opening, with ease.

"Might I remind you our little weekend getaway to Antarctica, Scully," he said, a little louder so she'd hear on the other side of the door.

He heard the click of the lock, and the door opened, greeted by Scully, who was grinning shyly, eyes bright, hands on either side of the doorframe, blocking his entrance.

"What's the password?" she asked playfully.

God, he loved lighthearted Scully. So rarely did she come out to play.

"The password is, 'It's fucking cold and I'm bigger than you, so kindly move out of the way before I move you myself,'" he said, leaning in to invade her personal space.

She raised her eyebrow with a smile. "You're lucky I'm cold, otherwise I'd shut the door in your face."

"Wouldn't be the first time," he volleyed back, as she moved to the side, allowing him in, closing the door behind him.

They surveyed the cabin. It was decently sized, but very modest accommodations. There was a couch and a loveseat, which surrounded a big wood burner on the far wall.

To the right was a small kitchen, which Scully began to peruse. She opened the fridge to see it was mostly empty. Some condiments that were probably pretty very old, several bottles of water, and that was basically it. The cabinets were bare, a spare few cans of soup and beans and other things. It would be enough for them though if they ended up having to stay a few days, worst-case scenario. At least there was running water.

She crept down the hallway to spy a small bedroom with what appeared to be either a queen or full size bed and a bathroom attached to it. Scully wondered to herself if they'd share a bed or if he would take the couch. She silently hoped for the former.

Scully was undecided if they were at the level where their relationship should be consummated. A huge part of her, the inner Pisces, wanted to be courted, wanted to be wined and dined. She enjoyed romance, despite her frigid persona, and her life had been denied it, for so long. However, this has been a seven-year song-and-dance between them, so that counted for something, right?

Let's face it. She needed laid. And being trapped in a cabin with Mulder could yield endless possibilities, all with the same ending – release. She shivered deliciously at the thought.

"Hey Scully!" she heard him call from the front room, interrupting her thoughts. "We have fire!"

This was the best news she'd heard all day, besides Mulder's confession, of course. She made her way to him, and found him crouched by wood burner, the orange glow of the fire he'd started illuminating his face.

He stood up, brushing his hands on his coat. "Thankfully, there's plenty of wood. I have no idea how to gauge how much one uses in a day, but I think we should be good to go if we have to stay for a day or two."

Scully plopped down on the couch nearest to the fire. She was freezing, still wearing her coat. The cabin was cold; she could see her breath in there.

"Is it going to take long to warm up in here?" she asked, looking up at him.

"I hope not," he said, honestly. "I know you're cold… your lips are kinda blue."

Scully's fingers touched her lips in response. She knew she was cold, but she didn't know her body was that cold. She needed to eat something, to help get her body warm.

"We need to contact this ranger station, ASAP Mulder."

Mulder took out his pack and dug through it, searching for his cell phone. Once he found it, he tapped out the number to the station. He heard fuzz on the other side of the line, trying to connect. He only had one bar of service, so he wasn't positive he'd even be able to call out.

Finally, it began to ring, and by the third ring, someone a the station picked up.

"Hey, Agent Mulder here, Agent Scully and I have a bit of a situation. We headed out to the site where the body had been found, but we got slammed in this snow storm and we made our way to one of the cabins to wait out the storm."

Mulder listened intently on his end, Scully watched him, wondering if this was good news or bad news he was hearing. By the look of concern on his face, it couldn't be good.

"Okay, well we've still got power here, but I've got no phone charger. I'm going to power off, to conserve power, but I'll check it every two hours, how does that sound?"

Listening for a moment, he ended the conversation, punching the end button of his phone, powering down, and tossing it back in the bag.

"Okay, what's the verdict?" Scully asked.

He looked at her and sighed. "Wouldn't you know it, we're hitting just the beginning of what is apparently the epic storm of the century."

"Are you kidding me?

"No," he said glumly. "Did you know this place is in the top ten places in America for highest average snowfall annually?"

"Go figure," she retorted. "So is anyone coming to get us?"

"Not right now. They say snow is falling like three inches an hour, and who knows when it will let up – and when it does, there's apparently some crazy amount of ice headed this way and the temps are supposed to drop."

"So…?"

"So we could be stuck out here for a few days, in the least, until they can get to us. We're kind of last priority right now because we've got heat. They're more concerned with the tourists and hikers that are out there right now."

Scully sighed. This truly couldn't get any worse. "So you're checking your phone? Let me turn mine off too, that way when your battery goes, we can turn mine on and use it."

"Good thinking," he said, frowning. "Hey, listen Scully, I'm sorry about this. I didn't know…"

"Don't even think about apologizing Mulder, this stuff happens. Forget about it. Let's just make the best of it and stay warm."

Mulder sat down next to her, so close their shoulders touched, hearing the material of their nylon coats rub together, before she could manage to get up to get something. Not wanting to move now, she waited, looking over at Mulder expectantly.

He craned his head towards her to look at her, and he spent several moments just looking at her.

"What is it?" she inquired, perplexed by his stare.

He smiled at her, shaking his head, as if to indicate "nothing", then looked forward again, into the fire that was slowly growing in the woodburner.

Mulder hated to admit it, but he was nervous around Scully right now. In the various scenarios he played out in his head concerning confessing his feelings to her, he was always smooth, calm, collected. In his mind, he always knew the right thing to say. Now he was nervous, like a high school freshman sitting next to the hot senior.

He accepted that he basically had no game, and that the majority of the women he'd been with in the past he had his charming good looks to thank. And certainly he'd never had what it is he has with Scully with another woman in his lifetime. A lot of the rapport was already built, but god he needed to get this right. Scully deserved everything.

He stared down at his hands then, feeling the butterflies flutter in his stomach. Love was a delicious feeling, and god; he wanted and needed to preserve this. He has no idea how to not completely fuck this up.

"Mulder," she said softly, leaning forward now so her face was close to his. "What's wrong?"

She sensed his weirdness.

He smiled in defeat, still looking down at his hands. There was truly nothing he could hide from her these days.

"I just… I'm thinking."

"About what?"

He thought for a moment before responding. "About us."

Scully smiled. "So what about us?"

She was interested to know what exactly about them could get Mulder so pensive. It was practically radiating off of him.

After several moments, he looked at her. "I'm nervous, Scully."

Scully nearly laughed out loud, because it seemed so ridiculous. But Mulder didn't generally show that vulnerable side, so there had to be something to what he was saying. Mulder was always so flirtatious, so smooth with women, and over the years Scully had noticed it – she'd have to be blind not to. It drove her absolutely nuts. So to sit here and think that, of all people,_ she_ was the one who made him nervous? Well that was something.

"Scully, I want this to be perfect, this thing between us. We've been through so much. _You've_ been through so much. You deserve so much, and I so badly want to be the person who gives it to you."

Her heart melted at his words. She shifted in her seat to face him and placed her hand on his cheek, gently.

"Mulder," she said.

"Scully you're so perfect, so amazing, and every day I am in awe of you. I am nothing, really, but this brooding, intense, but lonely man. I don't have a lot, but I have gone to the end of the earth for you – and I'd do it again in a heartbeat if I needed to. I love you in a way I've not loved someone else before. It scares me. I'm so afraid that I will never be enough for you."

Tears sprang in her eyes, understanding what he meant. She immediately grabbed him and pulled him close, burying her nose into his neck. Her nose was cold, and it felt good to nuzzle up to Mulder's warm neck. He wrapped his arms around her, drawing her as close as he could in these damn snowsuits.

She held him for several moments before speaking, feeling her chest against his, feeling the steady rise and fall, despite the thick layers of down coat separating them.

"Mulder, I've needed this, needed you – us – for so long," she said, breathless now. "I feel like I've been aching for this forever now. I've never wanted something so badly in my life. Never say you won't be enough for me – because you're exactly what I need. You're everything. I'm not going anywhere, this is exactly where I want to be."

She felt his arms tighten around her in response.

"Well," she murmured. "I'd rather be at my place or your place right now with you, instead of stuck here, but beggars can't be choosers, now can they?"

He pulled away to look at her, smiling. "Well we can certainly make good use of our time here… I mean, what else are we gonna do?"

Scully shivered at the thought, feeling warmth creep through her bones for the first time in two days.

It was going to be interesting, that's for sure.


	6. Chapter 6

You calm the storms,

And you give me rest.  
You hold me in your hands

You won't let me fall.  
You still my heart,

And you take my breath away.  
Would you take me in?

Take me deeper now?

And how can I stand here with you

And not be moved by you?  
Would you tell me how could it be

Any better than this?

- "Everything", Lifehouse

* * *

Several hours passed after their chat, the day basically uneventful. Scully had eaten a sandwich and granola bar that she'd brought with her in her pack and was feeling much more like herself. The wood burner had finally begun to warm the place up, enough that she and Mulder were able to peel off their snowsuits and feel comfortable.

Mulder had powered on his phone every two hours, as promised, and at hour four he had received a message from the ranger station that the worst of the storm was headed this way in a few hours and to expect power outages tonight. He checked his watch – it was about four-thirty. It was going to get dark about six-ish. They still had power, but in case they lost power, Mulder wanted to be sure they had candles or something.

He stood up from his place on the couch, ready to search for candles and matches. Scully had been dozing for about two hours now, and he'd been sitting there, listening to the sound of her breath, watching the steady rise and fell of her chest. Mulder had this overwhelming urge to scoop her up and carry her into the bedroom and have his way with her. They hadn't kissed since they shared the kiss outside. He just wanted to touch her, feel her skin against his, in any way possible, but he didn't know where the boundaries were. They needed to talk.

He gazed out the front windows on his way to the kitchen. The snow was falling at a rate he'd never witnessed before. He made a mental note never to take a case here again, this place was truly fucking miserable. He had no idea how people dealt with this shit, winter after winter.

Fumbling through the drawers in the kitchen, Mulder was able to find a box of matches but no candles. The rest of the drawers were basically empty – as were the cabinets. He decided to try his luck in the bathroom down the hall. In the bathroom closet he found a couple wide pillar candles that would be plenty for them.

Satisfied with his find, he made his way out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, sitting them on the dresser. He sank into the bed, lying on his back, fingers laced behind his head, staring up at the ceiling for a long time.

He began to have an existential "come to Jesus" with himself. Mulder thought about Scully, about the ball of fury he saw outside today. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined today would play out like this. He played back their exchange in the snow - her eyes glittering blue orbs, as she told him the four words he would have walked over hot coals to hear from her – _I love you too. _He felt so overcome with love for her that he wasn't sure his heart was big enough to contain it all.

He'd thrown himself out there today for the first time in his entire life. Sure he'd been in other relationships; sure he'd been in love. But he loved Scully with a boldness that made him as terrified as it did euphoric. She had the ability to destroy him – she held his heart in the palm of her hand. The Diana Fowleys and Phoebe Greenes of his life did not hold a candle to Dana Scully. He smiled at the ceiling, to no one in particular, a big toothy grin, because, for the first time in a very long time, he felt so happy.

Standing quietly in the doorway was Scully, up from her nap, stirring after hearing Mulder moving around. She padded softly down the hallway in search of Mulder, and paused in the doorway as she watched him smile. An ache of happiness filled her chest at the sight of it, her eyes springing with tears, her heart in her throat. Fox Mulder was not a man she'd seen happy too many times in her lifetime. Making him genuinely happy was like a high she didn't want to come down from – she just wanted to keep him there, keep herself there, for the rest of their days.

"Mulder," she whispered in wonder.

His head turned in the direction of her voice, their eyes meeting. Scully wordlessly glided over to him, climbing up onto the bed, crawling up to him on all fours. She settled over top of him, perched on her hands and knees, a hand on either side of his face, her copper locks falling down to his face.

This thing that existed between them was quite new, but it had also been building for years. Scully opted for her own innate needs over her insecurities and the protests of her comfort zone.

"Scully," he murmured, his eyes locked on her.

Before he could say anymore, she kissed him, urgently. Their mouths collided, over and over. His mouth opened, inviting hers in, as the kiss became exploratory. Mulder felt nearly drowsy with arousal. He'd been waiting on this all day. He needed to touch her so badly he thought he might actually die from the need. He threaded his fingers through her hair and brought her to him, chest to chest. In the process, her groin fell directly onto his, feeling his hardness.

"Jesus Scully!" he hissed, breaking the kiss, his voice rough, breathless.

She touched her forehead to his, moaning slightly. This was tough. She knew where this was headed, and while her body more than reciprocated the sentiment, her heart wanted to wait. She wanted her apartment, or his, something familiar. She wanted perfection, not desperation. Still, as she felt the wetness pool between her legs, it was hard to be rational.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I want you so badly."

He chuckled softly at that. "Nothing to be sorry for, Scully."

"I know, it's just been awhile," she said lamely. "My nerve endings are on fire, I feel like I've spent the better part of the past decade wanting this, wanting you, and here we are…"

"I sense a big 'but' coming on," he said with a slight sigh.

"I guess I just want you, I want this, on our turf… I know it sounds stupid, but, I just want to have the whole thing be about us, I don't want to do this on some case…"

"Not stupid," he said with a smile. God she was so precious. "I get it Scully, and I want that too."

She sighed with relief, and kissed his lips gently.

"Of course," he said wryly, bucking his hips slightly into her, placing both his hands on her ass. "If you change your mind, you will find me to be someone not very difficult of convincing."

Scully giggled, thankful he was so understanding of her.

"Thank you," she said. "I want to talk about this though, we've not really talked about any of it, besides the little bit we talked about earlier."

"Okay," he murmured, whispering into her neck, intoxicated by her scent.

"Mulder I can't do this with your hands on my ass."

He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

He rolled them over so now they were on their sides, facing each other. He propped his head up with his hand, elbow resting on the bed. Taking his other hand, he softly touched her face.

Scully's eyes closed at the contact. Fuck. Why weren't they at home? Why did they HAVE to be here? She wondered, briefly, if they were meant to be here, so this whole thing could have unfolded. Would it have not unfolded any other way? Scully remembered a class the took in college as a gen ed, they discussed a theory about how history is a driving force, and if something didn't happen, life would find a way to make that phenomena happen anyway, because some things in life were just unavoidable. She was beginning to believe this thing that existed between them was unavoidable.

"How long?" he asked quietly.

Her brow furrowed. "How long what?"

"How long have you felt this was about us?"

Scully sucked in her breath. That was a complicated question. At this point, she couldn't remember a time when she didn't love Mulder. She had no idea how she arrived to the notion, she just knew it existed.

"I don't know," she said honestly, looking into his eyes. "It's been a long time though."

"As in, years?" his voice a whisper.

Scully paused for several moments. "Yes."

Mulder exhaled a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. Had they really felt this way all this time, and couldn't manage to get it together for seven years?

"What about you?" she asked.

"Same."

They stared at each other, processing the notion.

Out of nowhere, this overwhelming sadness enveloped Scully, and she began to cry. She cursed herself for doing this, again, in front of him, over this.

He reacted immediately, touching her face, wiping her tears. "Scully, what's wrong?"

"No, god, I'm sorry Mulder, I don't know what my problem is," hating herself for doing this.

"Scully," he pry. "Tell me."

She sniffed in defeat, knowing he was going to probe until she told him. She loved him and hated him both for it.

"God, we've waited seven years," she started, not really knowing where she was going with it, but frustrated at herself and at the situation, and the words began to spill from her lips in an unfiltered stream. "I almost died from cancer… you were gone, I was taken, people have died… all this time we could have been together? Mulder it makes my heart ache. I've needed you for so long, and here you've been all along? I'm so mad, I'm mad at myself and I'm irrationally mad at you."

His heart broke for her, understanding what she meant. "I know Scully, and it frustrates me too – beyond belief actually – but we can't change it. Thankfully we got our heads out of our asses."

Feeling foolish for her emotional outburst, she just smiled softly in response.

"I mean, had you not been riddled with jealousy, we may have never-"

"JEALOUSY?" she said, laughing incredulously.

"Oh come on now Scully, you were head to toe clad in purple out there, and I could even see the green on you then!"

"I. Was. Not. Jealous."

"Okay, whatever you say Scully," he said nonchalantly.

He leaned closer to her, right beside her ear. "Jealous or not, it's fucking sexy."

Scully's mouth went dry at his words, at his breath in her ear.

"Okay, so maybe I was a little jealous…"

Mulder smirked against her ear, unsurprised. He knew she was fucking jealous all along. He pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her, eliminating all space between them, their limbs tangled.

She sighed contentedly. It amazed her how, in an instant, it was like a void was filled in her life that was missing all along. They laid there in silence, listening to the rat-tat-tat of the freezing rain and snow hitting against the window. Scully enjoyed the warmth of his arms wrapped around her, feeling his heart beat against hers. This was the happiest she'd felt in so long.

"I love you so much Mulder."

He squeezed her tighter in response, nuzzling her neck. "I love you too, Scully."

Then, as if on cue, the power went out.

"Oh fuck," Mulder groaned.

It was going to be a long night in the dark.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note: I thought maybe the last chapter was kinda mean, so this is my bit of redemption. **** This story is far from over, rest assured…..**

**

* * *

**

We meet at the lights  
I stare for a while  
The world around us disappears

It`s just you and me  
On my island of hope  
A breath between us could be miles  
Let me surround you  
My sea to your shore  
Let me be the calm you seek

- "I Love You", Sarah McLachlan

* * *

Scully laid underneath Mulder, her hair fanned out on the bed, the copper locks in direct contrast with the bright white of the bedspread, that glared white, even in the dark. The candlelight in the room combined with the delicate darkness brought about by early nightfall illuminated her face, making her look delicate, nearly angelic, until her eyes met his, like glittering sapphires, with that dark arousal appearance that made her so heavy-lidded.

She had no idea how they got to be in this position. One moment they were snuggling, in agreement of where this was going, satisfied with the "let's wait til we get back home" decision. The next moment the lights went out and all hell broke loose – in their pants.

When the lights went out, Mulder audibly swore at the situation, then disentangled himself from Scully, and headed off to light the candles he'd found. When he returned with lit candles, he also returned to his partner lying on her back on the bed, with a dark, predatory look on her face that made Mulder's mouth go dry. He felt his pulse in his ears, and he felt a bead of sweat roll down his spine.

_Christ, it's a hundred degrees in here. Is it a fucking full moon tonight?_ He wondered to himself, as he lowered himself on top of her, grateful that Scully was coming out to play. He realized, however, that Scully was going to set the pace here. He wasn't sure what changed in the thirty seconds he had left, but he was left not knowing how far to take this. So Scully was going to set the speed to this.

He was slowly kissing her neck, finding her pulse, behind her ear, and exploring the whole area with his mouth, as she began to writhe underneath him, moaning his name, before she began to mindlessly babble from sheer arousal. Realizing that he'd suddenly hit a minefield of erogenous zones for Scully, he began to devour her neck with savagery.

Scully was literally dying. Her neck was such a clichéd erogenous zone, but she didn't care. All she knew was that if her neck was touched, her lover better mean business. She'd once had an orgasm from just having her neck kissed for a certain period of time. And now Mulder was there, at her neck, paying it the attention she'd so desperately wanted and need from him for so many years.

"Mulder, please," she pleaded urgently, undulating against him, her body seeking so much more contact. She needed to touch his skin, feel it against hers

He shuddered. It was only in his fantasies that his downright fuckable partner lay underneath him, asking him, pleading with him to touch her. He began to tug at her shirt. She got the message and raised her arms, giving him permission to slide her shirt off of her, revealing the alabaster planes of her body, the swells of her breasts, tucked perfectly into a lacy black bra.

Before he could lean back down to kiss her again, he felt her tug at his shirt. He raised his eyebrow at her, before leaning back, and pulling it over his head, then leaning back down to her. Scully hungrily pulled him to her, feeling his warm skin of his torso against hers, and moaning audibly before assaulting his mouth with hers. This kiss wasn't slow and exploratory like their previous ones, this kiss was hot, searing, urgency, and he kissed her back with a fierce reciprocity that made her moan in his mouth.

Mulder's hands were tangled in her copper locks, holding her head so gently as he began to devour her. He realized her pelvis was involuntarily thrusting into his, and he was painfully hard at this point. They had officially reached the pearly gates of the point of no return. Scully was obviously drunk with desire, so this was Mulder's responsibility to ensure that this was, indeed what she wanted, and not just her arousal doing all the thinking. If they continued any longer, Mulder was positive he was not going to be able to stop, and more than anything; he couldn't bear her regretting a single thing they ever did, especially in their relationship's fragile infancy.

"Scully," he said, punctuating with a gentle kiss.

She looked up at him, and he nearly gasped. He had never seen her like this. Scully was generally pretty straight-laced and methodical, and right now she looked wild, and it was so incredibly sexy. She said nothing in response, but thrust her hips into his, bumping his agonizingly hard cock.

"Scully… Scully," he hissed, gritting his teeth to maintain control. "I'm not going to be able to stop if we go any further…"

"I don't want to stop, Mulder," she said, reaching between them to stroke him. "I want you and I don't want to wait."

That was all it took for Mulder to come undone. In an instant he grabbed her wrists and held them above her head.

"Don't, or this will be over way too soon," he growled dangerously into her ear. "I've waited seven years to touch you like this…"

Scully moaned uncontrollably at the sound of his voice. That was not a voice in Mulder's usual repertoire, and the sound of it, so turned on, and a commanding edge to it… she could barely fucking take it.

With that, Mulder unzipped her jeans. She lifted her hips obediently; staring at him wide-eyed he peeled them off of her, leaving her clad in just her bra and matching panties. Capitalizing on the opportunity of being vertical, he took his own jeans off, opting to leave on his boxer briefs on for now.

He leaned back into her, reaching behind her to unhook her bra, and kissed her lips confidently, one hand behind her head, one hand trailing down the flat plane of her abdomen, to rest at the edge of her black lace panties.

"These are sexy," he whispered roughly. "But they have to go."

She mewled in his ear as he slid her panties off, along with her bra, and discarded them on the floor beside the bed. He leaned back to drink in the sight of her. Her wild, gleaming eyes, her full lips slightly parted, panting. He examined the hollows of her collarbone, down to her shapely arms. Her breasts were perfect, more amazing than he could have ever imagined.

Unable to help himself, he took the right one into his mouth, alternating between sucking and swirling his tongue around her nipple. This elicited an unintelligible response from Scully, as she grabbed his head, making sure his mouth did not leave her. He gave the left breast the same attention, and alternated between her breasts for several minutes, before she finally protested.

"You're fucking killing me, Mulder," she groaned.

He smirked at that. "That's the point, love." He'd purposely slipped that term of endearment in, testing the waters. Receiving no negative feedback, he tucked that away in his mind for future use.

His hand began to move down her taut stomach to her center, toying with her folds, finding her excruciatingly wet for him, which was such a huge turn on for Mulder. It's one thing for someone to say they want you sexually, but feeling her wetness was an affirmation of the past seven years. He felt powerful yet so humbled.

Inserting two fingers in, moving them swiftly in and out, he felt her buck uncontrollably into his hand. Mulder could tell she was nearly unhinged from arousal already. His mouth left her breasts and made his way towards his hand.

Scully peered down at him and realized immediately where he was headed. It would figure his quite obvious oral fixation would carry over into the bedroom. She's watched him crack too many sunflower seeds and chew one too many pencils in her time. Now it was time for uncharted territory.

"Oh god!" she cried out, before his tongue plunged inside of her, lazily exploring her wetness.

Mulder's arousal heightened to a new level at the taste of her, something he'd always wanted to do, more than anything in the world. This was his favorite part of foreplay. He loved it, and Scully tasted amazing, a perfect blend of sweet and tangy.

His tongue grazed her clit, and he had to place one hand firmly on her hips to steady her, as they began to tremble. He realized that if he kept this up she was not going to last much longer.

"Mulder, please," she pleaded, arriving to the same conclusion, herself. "I need you inside me."

His heart skipped a beat as he climbed back up towards her, aligning himself at her entrance. He kissed her deeply. Scully tasted a delicious mixture of herself and Mulder, which nearly made her arousal unbearable at this point.

"I love you," he whispered, as he broke the kiss.

Then, without notice, he sank his entire length into her, eliciting a sound that could only be described as a squeak from her. He then pulled back out, nearly escaping her, then back in. He repeated this movement several times, until Scully felt like she was tap dancing on the edge of sanity, and wrapped her legs around his waist, digging her heels into his ass, mewling in protest.

Mulder found her efforts quite amusing, but the laugher was lost in the moment, as he felt her snug, slick, velvety walls clenching around him with each stroke he took.

They found their rhythm eventually, Scully now meeting him thrust for thrust. After awhile, Mulder began hitting that one spot inside Scully with every stroke. She grabbed his ass firmly and cried out.

"Oh god, right there, Mulder!" she gasped.

He did as told, staying on course, thrusting deftly into her, hitting that same spot, hearing her little "uhh, uhh" with each movement, becoming increasingly urgent. Mulder knew she was close, he felt her entire body begin to stiffen, as her orgasm began to build steadily.

"That's it baby," he coaxed through his rhythm, not sure how much longer he was going to last himself. "Come for me, you are so fucking amazing, I want to see you come."

It wasn't long before he felt her walls clamping around him. Scully was practically levitating from the power of her orgasm, shrieking in wonder, as Mulder continued to drive into her, riding out the wave of her orgasm, before she felt him expand inside her, and come finally. He slowed his movements before stopping completely, kissing her lips tenderly before resting his forehead on hers, panting.

"Jesus, Mulder," she said in wonder.

He made to withdraw from her, but she tightened her legs around him.

"No," she whispered. "Stay."

Mulder sighed contentedly as he pulled her to him and rolled them so they were on their side, throwing the covers over them, knowing she would be cold soon.

"Mulder, that was…" she trailed off.

"Fucking amazing?" he offered. "Yes it was… God Scully, it was so unexpected, I didn't think you wanted to…"

She smiled into his chest. "Of course I wanted to… I just changed my mind… we've waited long enough, don't you think?"

"Definitely," he chuckled. "I was concerned that it was the arousal speaking and that you might regret it later, that's why I stopped you at first."

"I would _never_ regret you, Mulder," she said firmly, finding his hand and squeezing it for emphasis.

He smiled down at her. They stayed silent for several minutes, both reflecting on the evening's events.

Suddenly, her stomach growled loudly, jarring them both from their thoughts.

"Ugh, I'm so hungry!" she said, frustrated that her dinner was going to be whatever can of soup sounded best from that cabinet. "I don't want soup. I hope they get us outta here tomorrow."

"Just pretend it's a cheeseburger, Scully," he replied, getting up finally, and pulling her up with him. "We should probably blow these candles out to conserve, or maybe just use one of them. It's probably not even eight yet."

Scully sighed, searching for her clothes to put back on. "I'm not even close to being tired because I took that two hour nap earlier."

Mulder pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her protectively and kissing her temple. "Don't worry, I can think of plenty of ways to wear you out, Scully."


	8. Chapter 8

I can't imagine, any greater fear  
Than waking up, without you here,  
And though the sun, would still shine on,  
My whole world, would all be gone,  
But not for long,

If I had to run, if I had to crawl  
If I had to swim a hundred rivers, just to climb a thousand walls,  
Always know that I would find a way, to get to where you are,  
There's no place that far

- "No Place That Far", Sara Evans

* * *

Making their way into the living room by candlelight, Mulder went to check his cell phone to see if there was any news from the station yet. He powered his phone on, squinting his eyes at the bright light of his phone in the darkness.

Fortunately, they were so far out, they were surrounded exclusively by snow, so when it got dark at night, the intense bright white of the snow reflected enough to give them a decent amount of natural light, despite the sun going down. Scully took the opportunity to go into the kitchen and snag a can of soup.

She fumbled around in the darkness until she found a manual can opener in a drawer. She opened a can of whatever was in the cabinet, and dumped it unceremoniously into a bowl. Making a face at the notion of eating cold mystery soup, she snagged a spoon and went to find Mulder.

Scully found him in the living room, sitting on the coffee table, facing the couch, with his phone to his ear and a look of concern twisted on his face. Sitting down on the couch in front of them, so their knees nearly touched, she waited for him to finish checking the messages to see what was up.

After several moments passed, Mulder snapped his cell phone tersely back into his bag. He sighed and looked at Scully in the darkness.

"What is it?" she asked, a mouth full of cold soup that she guessed was some sort of vegetable soup.

"Well, news from the mothership," he said, running his hands through his hair absent-mindedly.

"What now? Please tell me it's good news."

Mulder laughed, despite himself. "Not exactly. The bad news is there is a major power outage in the area, an unprecedented one apparently, so who knows when someone is going to get to us, because they are still trying to get to the hikers and others out in the woods."

Scully groaned in response.

"The even worse news is," Mulder continued. "They found two more bodies. Not far from the first site. Same M-O, time of death estimated to be twelve hours ago, though they can't be sure since there's no way to do a thorough autopsy right now, with the weather still slamming us and the power situation."

Scully gasped. "So that means those bodies were dumped-"

"…while we were out walking to the first site?" Mulder finished. "Yes, precisely. And whatever it is, it's still out there."

"Oh my god, Mulder."

He nodded grimly.

"So what's the good news?" she asked.

"Uh, we still heave our health?" he offered. "Scully, I have no fucking idea how far this cabin is from where were the site we were originally heading to is, but my suggestion is, we lock this place up, close the blinds, and use the light sparingly."

"Mulder we have footprints from the snow that lead right here!" Scully was beginning to panic, though she didn't let it appear in her voice.

Mulder pondered this for a moment. A good bit of their walk was on a path that was already set for them by previous walkers in the area, so the snow was packed down and they left no tracks. But as they began to change course, they had to go off the beaten path, and in some places, Scully was nearly wading through the snow.

"Well our tracks aren't that far out… just close to here, the rest was the beaten trail of snow. I'm considering going out there, just down to the trail, and making some diversion tracks – you know, just in case."

Scully vehemently shook her head. "No way, Mulder, it's dark out there, and you're not going out there unless we both go."

Mulder sighed, expecting this answer. "Someone has to stay here with out stuff, Scully. I will be okay, I'll be gone like an hour, tops."

She frowned. "Mulder there has snow falling since we got here, at the rate of like three inches an hour or whatever they said, on top of that is probably a hard shell of ice, from the freezing rain… chances are our tracks are already covered!"

Smiling internally, Mulder shook his head. His Scully, always the voice of reason in their partnership.

"Scully, I'd feel better if I could just go out there and take a look around. We don't know what this thing is – human or some sort of animal – so I just want to make sure we're safe."

She knew he was right, of course. Someone needed to go look and someone needed to stay. He had his weapon, he was fully competent, and on any other day this wouldn't have been a fight. But things were different now. Where there use to be a line, or at least a blurred line, there was no more. All precedents removed. This thing now existed between them because they'd allowed it to be alive. Scully didn't consider how things would change for her when it came to shop talk. She needed to separate herself, factor herself out of the question. It's about what's right, what's safe, not about what will make her sleep better at night.

Mulder cradled her face gently, knowing she was having trouble with this, and also knew she'd be too proud to admit it.

"I love you," he said, nuzzling her nose.

She closed her eyes, fighting tears, and scolding herself for it. "I love you too."

He pulled her to him, into a tight embrace, his nose in her hair, kissing her gently. He felt her sigh contentedly into him. Mulder smiled.

"I won't even be gone an hour. I just want to check out the area and make sure were going to be okay," he murmured.

Scully pulled away, knowing she was never going to be reassured. "Okay, I'm going to close all the blinds in the place to make sure we're not seen from the outside and make sure all the windows are locked while you're gone."

"Good call," he said, getting up, and getting his coat on. "Keep the candlelight to a minimum. And call Skinner while I'm gone."

She made a face in the dark. It was at least ten on east coast time. Scully couldn't wait to wake up the Assistant Director to tell them they were stranded in a cabin with no communication, and there was some sort of unidentified killer on the loose.

"Okay, take your phone with you – just in case you get into trouble. I'll have mine on."

Mulder made his was to the door. He glanced out the window, his eyes giving the outside a once-over, scanning his sector for anything out of the ordinary before he headed out. Satisfied, he turned around and kissed Scully on the lips.

"B-R-B," he said, with a wry smile.

Scully smiled, shaking her head. When he was gone, she closed and locked the door behind him, then began the daunting task of making sure the windows in the cabin were secure. Once she was finished, she was surrounded in darkness, besides the orange glow of the fire in the wood burner.

She shuddered. Rarely did she have the creeps, but she had them now. Scully dismissed the feeling as irrational, and chalked it up to the new developments between she and Mulder. It was only logical she feel like this – it was the natural order of things.

Powering on her phone and wincing at the intense light nearly blinding her, she searched through her phone book until she found Skinner's number. She selected it and pressed send, holding it to her ear and praying it went to voice mail.

As luck would have it, he answered gruffly on the fourth ring.

"Skinner."

"Sir it's Agent Scully."

"Agent Scully?" he asked, confused. "Is everything okay?"

"We're fine sir, just in a bit of a situation."

"What kind of situation?" he asked warily. He was used to "situations" with Mulder and Scully, and rarely did they end well.

"To make a long story short, we are stranded in some cabin we found in the middle of the woods out here. We got some inclement weather, which ended up being a blizzard-"

"Yeah I saw that on the news," he interrupted.

She sighed glumly. Lovely. "Well, there's a giant power outage here, we're keeping in contact with the ranger station, but they think it will be a few days before they can come find us."

"Okay, that's not too bad," he mused, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Well," she began, trying to couch her words correctly. "We powered on Mulder's phone a little bit ago to find out there had been two more bodies found. We've got no idea who is responsible for this or where they are at… and we're pretty much stuck out here."

"Oh shit," he said. This was not good. "Where is Mulder now?"

"He went out to check the area surrounding the cabin," she said, tentatively, knowing he'd not like that scenario.

Skinner sighed. "Okay well keep me posted. If I need to be a silent hand in this situation to make sure you guys are top priority in getting out of there, you let me know."

"I will, sir, thank you."

They exchanged goodbyes, and she hung up. She was sure to keep on her phone in case Mulder called.

She settled back into the couch, staring idly into the orange glow of the fire. Trying to replay the events of just a few hours ago proved to be useless. There was nothing to do to occupy her time on distract her. So, Scully began to do the only other think she knew to do.

She waited.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's note: WOW! Thank you all so much for the continued reviews/favorites/et cetera, despite the fact I haven't updated in a few months. I apologize for the lack of updates. The past few months I have graduated college, moved across the country to the desert, and started a new job. The dust is beginning to settle finally, and I wanted to let you know I plan on finishing the story (and continuing to write as long as you all want to read!). So it's not wintertime and I live in the desert, but I have years of snowy memories trapped in my head to continue on. Enjoy, and thanks again to you all for reading and keeping me writing. :)

* * *

Ain't no sunshine when he's gone

It's not warm when he's away

Ain't no sunshine when he's gone

And he's always gone too long

Anytime he goes away

- "Ain't No Sunshine", Eva Cassidy

* * *

Darkness.

Scully was surrounded in darkness. She had dozed off on the couch some time ago, waiting quietly yet impatiently for Mulder's return. Looking down at her phone, she pressed the power button, lighting up the screen and temporarily blinding her. She squinted in protest, and then checked the time.

He'd been gone just over an hour. It wasn't that long, in the scheme of things, but Scully was unsettled, regardless. He said he wasn't going to be gone that long, and despite Mulder's spotty track record of truth-telling when it came to these things, she knew he was honest when he said he'd be back when he said – barring any unforeseen emergencies, of course. That's the part that made Scully's stomach churn.

Taking a deep breath, she relaxed a little, letting her mind wander back to a few short hours ago when she and Mulder were together. Scully's internal muscles clenched involuntarily at the memory. For years the notion of she and Mulder together existed only in her mind, and it was a place she let herself visit so infrequently.

But now the door had been opened, and she wanted more. So much more.

She sighed, sinking back into the couch, pensive now.

_Mulder, where are you?_

* * *

Mulder had scanned the perimeter, wandering father than he anticipated, but he wanted to make better distraction tracks. Their tracks right by the cabin were unavoidable, however, Scully had been partially correct – the snow and ice had basically covered much of the damage. Mulder just wanted to poke around and make sure all was well.

After he surveyed the area, he decided it was time to head back – Scully was probably worried. He was about a twenty-minute walk back to the cabin. If he walked the straight shot, he'd be there sooner, but he didn't want tracks leading straight to the cabin, so he walked the treeline, cutting over once he saw the cabin.

Despite the obvious creepiness of the whole situation, it had been a pleasant evening to walk. Between the illumination of the moon and the white snow on the ground, he didn't have to adjust too terribly to the darkness. A flashlight was out of the question, obviously.

As he began to make his way back to the cabin, he left his mind wander to making love with Scully not so long ago. He smiled in the darkness. Going into this trip, going on this case, Mulder had no idea this is the way things would pan out. Things were weird for a few days, but he welcomed it, because it resulted in something so much better – better than he could have imagined.

His mind went back to Scully, just a few hours ago. He went back to the little noises she made, each time he thrust into her. If he had a nickel for every time he dreamt of making those sounds come out of her, he could retire today. She was so uninhibited with him, so unguarded. It was stunning, actually.

Mulder stopped suddenly. He thought he heard something. He stood, frozen, listening. It was sickeningly quiet outside. The weather had quelled, and everything was oddly still. Mulder stood for several moments, listening for snow crunching or a rustling somewhere.

When he heard nothing, he chalked it up to him just being paranoid and continued on. Five minutes later he stopped again, this time he was _sure_ he heard something, footsteps in the snow, and it sounded very close. He looked around, head on a swivel, looking 360 degrees. He saw nothing, but his gut told him something was there.

He kept himself still, molding himself against a tree, breathing shallowly in attempts to make as little sound as possible. If whatever it was out there were human, it was doubtful that whoever it was realized Mulder was there. If it were an animal of some kind, it already knew he was there, probably from the moment Mulder stepped out of the cabin.

About ten minutes had passed, and he'd heard nothing. He was positive there was something there. But the clock was ticking, he needed to get back to the cabin, he was already thirty minutes past the time he told Scully he'd be back. He was about a quarter mile from the cabin from where he was standing. He could made a dead run for it, but he'd expose his position, and if it were an animal that was out there, the snow would slow him down, exponentially, and whatever animal it was would surely catch up to him. He didn't know the best course of action at this point. He touched his weapon on his hip involuntarily.

A tree branch snapping behind him, probably a hundred meters away made his decision for him. He took off in the snow like a rocket, heading straight, in the direction of the cabin.

Despite his lanky frame, the snow did slow him down some. He couldn't hear anything following him, mostly because all he could hear was his heart slamming in his chest. If it wasn't following him, then it was definitely aware of him now, no doubt about it.

Thanks to adrenaline, Mulder was back to the porch of the cabin in less than five minutes. His footprints went straight from the treeline to the cabin, exposing them, but that was the risk he had to take.

He didn't bother tapping his boots off, he went straight for the door, seizing the handle.

Locked. _Fuck._

"Scully!" he hissed, taking the opportunity to look behind him now. He saw nothing – for now.

Still no answer to the door. Mulder was not a man who panicked, but he began to panic now.

He rapped on the door loudly this time, discretion was less important than seeing his partner at this point.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the door opened.

"Mulder, where the hell-"

"Shhhhhh!" he cut her off, sliding inside and shutting the door behind him and deadbolting it.

He turned, her face visible in the darkness from the soft orange glow of the woodburner. Her eyes were wide and he could tell she'd been crying.

Wordlessly, he drew her into his arms, burying his nose into her hair. He could feel her soft sobs.

"Scully-" he began urgently, after a few moments.

"Why the hell were you gone so long, Mulder?" she hissed, pulling back and wiping her tears. "I was hearing noises and nearly called your phone!"

Mulder's heart stopped.

"Wait, you were hearing stuff too? What did you hear?"

"Just footsteps in the snow, once it sounded like someone was right outside the kitchen window… why? What happened out there?"

He shrugged his coat and boots off and sat down in the couch, pulling Scully on top of him.

"I walked out pretty far, everything was looking good, but I took the long way back, scaling the treeline so we wouldn't have my tracks leading anyone right here. I was about a quarter mile from here, in the treeline, when I thought I heard something. I ended up hauling ass back here, I know something is out there."

"Shit…" she trailed off. "Whoever it is knows we are here for sure."

Mulder nodded silently.

Scully mulled over this for a moment. If she heard something, and Mulder heard something over by his location in the woods…

"Do you think these were two different things, or two things working together?"

Mulder pondered this. "That's a good question. I'm not sure."

"So what do we do?"

"We wait… "

Mulder paused, peering up at his partner. He knew it was inappropriate, but Christ he wanted her right now.

"Mulder," she whispered, feeling the tension like a heater.

He pressed his forehead to hers, exhaling deeply.

"I want you…" she whispered, before she descended down his body, kissing and biting his neck with a sense of urgency.

Scully was too quick for Mulder. She navigated further down his body, smoothing her hands over his torso, before reaching the waist of his jeans, pausing to look up at him. Giving him a look that nearly made him come right then, she proceeded with her ministrations… tugging at his shirt to untuck it… unsnapping his jeans… She reached past the waist of his jeans, through his boxerbriefs, and grabbed the length of him.

Mulder's hips bucked into her hands.

"Jesus, Scully!" he hissed, his head spinning. This side of Dana Scully he definitely wanted to know. He knew exactly what she intended to do with him, and he couldn't stop her, even if he wanted to. He was powerless at this point. He knew he wouldn't last long though.

Without hesitation, she took his entire length in her mouth and began to bob relentlessly, clearly on a mission. She didn't want to take her time, she didn't want to savor the salty and musky taste that was unapologetically and irresistibly Fox Mulder, she wanted his release, she wanted to make him feel good. She needed to feel close to him, this whole situation - especially this evening… she just needed him near.

Mulder tried to draw it out as long as possible, but he eventually gave in to Scully's incredibly talented mouth.

"Scully, I'm gonna-" he sputtered.

She simply hummed in response, which sent him completely over the edge into oblivion.

Mulder was still for several moments; trying to regain what little composure he had left prior to the fantastic blowjob he'd just received, which completely blew his mind.

He pulled her to him, kissing her intensely, enjoying his post-orgasm bliss.

Scully melted into him. She wasn't sure if she'd ever have enough of Mulder, she wasn't sure if she'd ever be close enough. She needed him, and that need, to a certain degree, scared the hell out of her.

"That. Was. Fantastic." He said finally, punctuating each word with a kiss.

"Mmm," she sighed. "Thank you."

She felt his hand travel down her abdomen.

"Wanna touch you, Scully," he murmured.

"Ah-ah," she said. "I wanted to do this for you. Needed to."

He looked up at her, his heart overwhelmingly filled with love for her.

"Rain check?" he said, wryly.

She smiled in the darkness. "You bet your ass."

They laid there on the couch together, for several minutes, just listening to the sound of each other breathing. The rhythm was soothing to Scully, who had been hyped up these past couple of hours.

Suddenly, she heard something outside. She knew Mulder did too, because she felt his body tense under hers.

"Mulder…" she trailed, her voice barely a whisper. "There's something out there!"


	10. Chapter 10

Author's note: thank you all for the continued appreciation and for sticking with this story. I wanted to finish it (since it's nearly summer time and I'm writing a winter fic, still haha) because I have so many more ideas for stories that I really want to get started on. Thank you for reading! : )

* * *

Trouble, he will find you no matter where you go, oh oh  
No matter if you're fast, no matter if you're slow, oh oh  
The eye of the storm or the cry in the mourn, oh oh  
You're fine for a while but you start to lose control

He's there in the dark, he's there in my heart  
He waits in the wings, he's gotta play a part  
Trouble is a friend, yeah trouble is a friend of mine, oh oh!

-"Trouble is a Friend", Lenka

* * *

The pair exchanged looks. Forget about fear, Mulder was slightly pissed off, mostly because this _thing_ had impeccable timing, and also he was absolutely beat from hauling ass in the snow just a bit ago. He figured it would only be a matter of time though, before they were found at the cabin by whatever it was out there.

He pressed one finger to his lips, signaling his partner not to make a sound.

They remained silent for several minutes. He was starting to think maybe they didn't actually hear something at all. It was quite possible… there had been record amounts of snow and ice from the storm, and the ice was thick on the tree branches, causing them to snap and fall to the ground periodically. But this sounded very close, and there were no trees by the house.

"Did you check all the windows while I was gone?" he asked Scully, his voice barely a whisper.

She nodded in response.

The pair sat in silence on the couch for probably an hour, Scully's fingers laced lazily through Mulder's, her head resting softly on his broad shoulder. They looked relaxed, comfortable. But they were on alert.

Eventually, they both dozed off.

* * *

The sound of gunshots woke Mulder up. He shot up out of his seat, looking back down at a groggy Scully, who was also awakened by the sound.

"What the hell?" he whispered, grabbing his gun from the side table, and handing Scully hers as well.

"I don't know," she returned, looking less groggy and more focused now. "What time is it?"

Mulder checked his watch. "Three in the morning. Hey, let's move."

Following Mulder's lead, they crept tactically to the front door. He motioned for Scully to crouch, just on the other side of the doorway. He peered out the front door. All he could see was snow and trees.

Scully, covering Mulder's back and looking out the other direction happened to see lights, possibly from flashlights through the curtain of the opposing window.

"Mulder!" she hissed, motioning in her direction. "Lights!"

The pair moved for the windows across the way. Mulder pulled aside the curtain, revealing about a dozen people swarming in the vicinity with flashlights - presumably police officers.

"I think the cops are here," he whispered.

"Finally!"

Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden pounding on the front door, followed by a gruff voice shouting, "POLICE! OPEN UP!"

Mulder flung the door open.

"FBI here!" he said, flashing his badge he fished out of his back pocket.

"Agents Mulder and Scully?" the young but balding officer asked.

"Yep. We heard shots fired, what's going on?"

"We've been tracking two suspects out here, been closing in on them for a few hours now."

Scully chimed in. "We've been stranded out here, waiting out the weather, and we started hearing activity or movement of some kind several hours ago."

"Yeah, and I went out to clear the area and was being followed and hauled ass back here, " Mulder added, leaning into the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's been a weird night."

The officer briefly excused himself to take a call. Mulder and Scully exchanged a look.

"Mulder…" Scully trailed. "They were right out here all night…"

Mulder sighed deeply, partially out of relief that whoever it was didn't kill one or both of them. "I know. And to think I was in the woods with them and never knew…"

"Jesus, Mulder."

"I know," he paused, rubbing his face with his hands. "This could have been bad."

Yet another close call they had. Skinner was not going to be pleased. Thankfully no one was injured, but not only were they being closed in on by suspects they were supposed to be trailing, the local police department got the collar (or at least, the shot). In their defense, they were stranded because of inclement weather and the local and state departments on the case had better equipment to travel in the snow.

"Agents?"

The officer that had excused himself to take the phone call had returned.

"So what's the story with these guys out here?" Scully asked.

"Well we got a tip off a local geologist staying about two miles south of here about two guys he'd seen in the woods while he was working down by the stream. He said something about them just didn't seem right."

"So how did you end up finding them?" Mulder asked.

The deputy shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He looked about as tired as Mulder and Scully felt.

"We employed the local police department here along with the state police and a National Guard unit, and we were able to canvas a larger area with the equipment we had."

"So it was definitely a case of cannibalism then," Scully mused.

The deputy nodded. "Sure was, ma'am. We just didn't know there were two of them."

The deputy was joined now by what Mulder and Scully assumed to be his superior.

"Hey agents, we've got this from here. You guys look beat."

Mulder grinned. "You have no idea."

"Well we can hitch you a ride back to town if you want to wait, it may be an hour or so before I can get someone to take ya back?"

Scully couldn't stifle her groan. "What's option number two?"

The officer smiled, understanding how the agents felt. "You can go back to sleep here at the cabin and we can send someone by in the morning to come get you. You got the wood burner going for heat, right? Plenty of wood?"

"Yessir," Mulder said. "We'll just hunker down here, someone come get us in the morning when you can."

"I'll be sending a team out to work the grid again in the morning, we'll pick ya up then."

With that, Mulder and Scully went back in the cabin, closing the door behind them. Within seconds, Mulder drew her to him, gathering her in his arms.

"Mmm," Scully responded softly. "I can get used to this."

Mulder grinned into her hair. "We were interrupted earlier."

Scully looked at him incredulously. He was not really trying to pick up where they left off right now. There were officers swarming around the area and besides, she felt (and probably looked) like she was eighty.

He started before she could protest. "Of course you'll have to take a raincheck on it…" He trailed off, nuzzling her neck and running his hands over her soft, warm torso.

Scully moaned in response. She was so tired but Christ… the things that man did to her.

"Besides," he whispered. "I have all sorts of plans for you for when we get back to Washington."

She shivered deliciously in response. "Like what?"

"Like making love to you in your bed, like christening every piece of furniture in both our apartments… and taking you out, seeing you dressed up, spending 'us' time."

Tears sprung in her eyes. Of course Mulder was a meticulous lover. But he illustrated how he loved, respected, and genuinely wanted to be with Scully. Of course she didn't expect any less. But it had been so long since someone had treated Scully so well, it was overwhelming.

"C'mon Scully," he said, tugging her by the hand to the bedroom. "Let's go to bed."

Scully smiled inwardly.

It was finally their time.

* * *

Fin.


End file.
